Expression of ornithine decarboxylase of Coccidioides immitis in three Escherichia coli strains carrying the lambda DE3 lysogen and an E. coli EWH319 strain odc − null mutant

Ornithine decarboxylase from respiratory fungal pathogen, Coccidioides immitis , cloned in the pET CiODC plasmid under control of T 7lac promoter, was produced in E. coli BL21( DE3 ), BL21( DE3 )pLysS, BLR( DE3 ) and EWH319 transformant strains. E. coli BL21( DE3 )pLysS-pET CiODC expressed the highest specific activity of ODC, suggesting that this strain could be successfully used for protein structure and drug testing studies.